Inflatable shelter



W 1960 R. HARRISON m, ETAL 2,938,526

INFLATABLE SHELTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 2, 1958 BY 143 152 .1 flouAA/D W Win/w I ATTORNEYS y 195G R. HARRISON m, ETAL 2,938,526

INFLATABLE SHELTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 2, 1958 INVENTORS ATTORNEYS INFLATABLE SHELTER Richard Harrison Ill, 63 Prospect Parkway, Portsmouth, Va.; Henry V. Shriver, 915 Bolling Ave., Norfolk, Va.; and Ayler J. Holland, Jr., 417 Rudee Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va.

Filed June 2, 1958, Ser. No. 739,120

Claims. (1. 135-1 6 This invention relates to inflatable shelters and more particularly to such shelters having an inflatable tube framework.

Shelters having inflatable columns to provide support for a fabric covering have long been known in the art. In this known type of shelter the inflatable supporting columns are of rubber reinforced with fabric to Withstand the high gas pressure needed to give the column a rigidity somewhat comparable to that of a structural element made of wood or iron. Such shelters, While having a degree of portability were nevertheless bulky and heavy.

Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable shelter which may be easily carried by a person and which is easily erected or collapsed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shelter in which the structural rigidity of the shelter is derived from the arrangement of unreinforced tubular columns.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shelter made wholly of thin plastic sheet material which may be erected by a low air or gas pressure in the tubular supporting columns but nevertheless provides a substantial shelter to protect persons and material from the elements.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a shelter which upon deflation assumes a pre-folded position making it easy to make a compact package of the deflated shelter by completing the folding.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a shelter made in accordance with the present invention in which the supporting tubes are inflated and the shelter is erected;

Figure- 2 is a side elevation of the shelter shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 showing a valve mounted in the inflatable tubular supporting portion of the shelter;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 1 showing the formation of the tubular supports;

Figure 5 is a plan view of a modification of the shelter shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a sectional elevational view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

The shelter of the present invention may be used as a beach shelter, picnic shelter, sportmans and military shelters. It may also be used as a temporary or semiperrnanent structure for a wide variety of uses, such as storage, repair, recreation, housing and exhibition.

For purposes of illustration, the invention will be described with respect to a shelter having six pedestals or feet in contact with the ground. However, the number of such feet can be any desired number greater than two.

Adverting now to the drawings and particularly to nited States Patent Figures 1, 2 and 4, there is shown an erected shelter made in accordance with the present invention. The two plies 10 and 11 of flexible airtight material, such as sheet rubber, films of synthetic rubber-like plastics and the like, are superposed one upon the other. The interconnecting tube portions, or spokes, 12a, 12b, and the interconnecting perimetral tube portions 13a, 13b, and the webbing members 14, 15 are formed by adhesively joining the plies 10, and 11 together in the area of the webbing members 14, 15 and along the peripheral edges 16, 17 by means of a suitable liquid adhesive 18 such as a latex or synthetic plastic cement or by heat vulcanizing the plies 10 and 11 together in the respective areas designated. A cap or hub portion 19 is left unadhered to provide additional rigidity at the apex of the shelter when it is erected.

The pedestals 20, 21 are located at points equidistant about the periphery of the shelter at the peripheral intersection of the tube portions 12a, 13a and 1311, the edge portions 16 and 17 being broadened at these points to receive a grommet 22, respectively. An anchor iron 23 is received in each of the grommets 22 to anchor the erected shelter to the ground.

The shelter of the present invention has the general appearance of a pleated or folded plane structure, with each of the pleats forming a dormer-like portion 24 of the structure. There are six dormer portions 24 forming the shelter used for illustrating the present invention. The description of the dormer portions 24 will be confined to one of the said portions, since each one is the counterpart of the other.

The tubes 12a which lie at either side of the dormer portions are at the valleys between the dormers and extend between the pedestals 20, 21 respectively and the cap 19. A plane projected to bridge a pair of the tubes 12a and intersecting the ground is triangular in shape. The tube 12b is the ridge of the dormer portion 24 and extends from the cap 19 to the intersection 25 of the tubes 12b, 13a and 13b. The webbings 14 and 15 are triangular in shape and bridge the space between the tubes 13a, 12a, and 12b, 13b, 12a and 12b, respectively, to form the sides of the dormer portion 24. The front 26 of the dormer portion 24 is also triangular in shape having the ground as the base and the sides of the triangle being defined by the tubes 13a and 13b.

The altitude A of the triangular shaped front 26 of the dormer 24 as wellas the height H of the shelter is inversely proportional to the length of a base line extended between the pedestals 20 and 21. To space the distance between the pedestals 20 and 21 for the desired height of the shelter, a tie means 27 such as a rope, is

attached between the grommets 22 in the pedestals 20 and 21 respectively.

The dormer portions 24 each describe essentially an isosceles trihedral angle having inflatable tubes positioned at its dihedral angles to form the struts of a trussed structure which is very sturdy when these struts are inflated.

To inflate the tubes, a valve 28 is provided and is conveniently located at one of the pedestals. A source of compressed air or a cylinder of gas under pressure, such as a cylinder of CO is coupled with the valve 28 and all of the tubes 12a, 12b, 13a, 13b and the cap 19 are inflated; and the structure rises to its full height as determined by the tie means 27. For the larger models of shelters where the tubes 12a are very long additional tie means 29 attached at points on the inner surfaces of the tubes 12a may also be used. The tie means 29 may be a hexagonal shaped sheet of material which provides a false ceiling for the shelter or it may be a rope tie, as shown in Figures 5 and 6.

When the valve 28 has been opened and the tubes have 24. maybe lifted vertically at the point 25 and placed on the next dormer, When the pedestal 21 is brought adjacent the pedestal 20 the tubes 12a will extend their full length along the ground. The shelter will then be folded into a triangular shaped package with the looped 7 vties 27 extending outward beyond the folded shelter.

The ties 27 may then be placed on the folded shelter and the shelter rolled into a convenient sized bundle.

A convenient size of shelter for picnic use would be one having a diametrical pedestal spread of about 16 feet and a' height of about 8 feet. Such a shelter when made of thin plastic film would be light in weight and could be rolled into a package that would be convenient to carry. f 1 I To erect the shelter it is not necessary to completely unpack the shelter and layrit out over the plot where it is to be erected; It is only necessary to anchor one of the pedestals 20' and one of the adjacent pedestals 21. Then when the tubes are pressurized the shelter will rise from the ground to its full height and take its position on the plot, after which the remainder of the pedestals may be anchored;

While there has been disclosed in the foregoing description a practical embodiment of the shelter in accordance with the present invention, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art that variations in'the implementation of the concept of the invention are within the purview and scope of the invention.

We claim:

l. A collapsible shelter erectable by fluid pressure comprising, a plurality of radially disposed adjoining dormerlike portions, each dormer-like portion having congruent triangular sides of flexible material and a triangular front, inflatable tubes disposed along the edges of each of said congruent triangular sides, said inflatable tubes along the meeting edges of said congruent triangular sides being common, said inflatable tubes along the mean edges of said adjoining dormer-like portions being common, one end of each of said tubes along said meeting edges of s'aidtriangular front forming pedestals for said shelter,

and a holding tie bridging said pedestals."

2 A collapsible shelter erectable by fluid pressure com! prising, a sheet of flexible material having a central hub coupled therewith, a plurality of spaced inflatable ridge tubes extending radially outward-from said central hub and coupled with said sheet of flexible material, a plurality of inflatable valley tubes extending radially outward from said central hub and coupled withsaid sheet of flexible material, each of said valley tubes being spaced intermediate said ridge tubes, inflatable 'strut' tubes coupled between the outer end of each of said valley tubes and the outer end of the adjacent said ridge tube, a holding tie perimetrically interconnecting the outer ends of said valley tubes, and the perimetrical length of said holding tie being less than the perimetrical length of the polygon described by the radial length of said valley tubes.

3. A collapsible shelter erectable by fluid pressure comprising, a sheet of two-ply flexible material, said plies having webbing areas and inflatable tube areas, said tube area including a hub, a plurality of ridge tubes radially extending from said vhub intermediately spaced with a plurality of valley tubes radially extending from said hub and strut tubes coupled'between the outer end of each of said valley tubes and the outer end of the adjacent said ridge tubes, and a holding tie coupled between adjacent valley tubes whereby the plane of said sheetwill fold into a plurality of adjoining dormer-like portions having their respective ridges meeting at said hub when said tube areas are inflated.

4. A variable size collapsible shelter erectable by fluid pressure comprising, a plurality of inflatable spoke tubes, said spoke tubes having inner and outer ends, said inner ends of said spoke. tubes being joined togetherto form a hub, said outer ends of said spoke tubes being'spaced from said hub and spaced from each other, a perimetral tube coupling the outer end of each spoke tube with the outer end o f the adjacent spoke tube, a web of'supple material spanning the space between said spoke tubes, a tie, and means on alternate spoke tubes and spaced from said hub to holdingly receive said tie to limitthe outward extension of said alternate spoke tubes, whereby when said spoke tubes and said perimetral tube' are inflated}.

shelter comprising dormer-like portions will-be erected."

i 5. A variablevsi ze collapsible shelter erectable by fluid pressure comprising, a sheet of supple material having a hub coupled therewith,'an inflatable perimetral-tube extending around the perimeter of said sheet and coupled therewith, a plurality of inflatable spoke tubes disposed in spaced circumferential relationcoupling said hub with said perimet'ral tube, said spoke tubes being coupled to said sheet material, a tie, and'means fixedly attached to alternate spoke tubes to holdingly receive said tie and 40 restrict the outward extension-of said spoke tubes, whereby when said spoke tubes and said perimetral tube are inflated said sheet mater'ialwill form'a shelter having a pleat-like contour in which the pleats form' dormers with the valleys between the dormers being at the spoke tubes held by said tie and the ridges of the dormers being the other alternate spokes, and the height and diameter of said shelter being variable at will by the restrictiveness ofthetie;

References Citedin the file of this patent; 1

7 UNITED 'STATES PATENTS a 39,721 Cross Sept. r g-1 363 2,716,993 Codrick. septa-6, 1935 7 FQREIGN PATENTS 4,957 Great Britain u ."4, 1894 OTHER REFERENCES -f Harrison and Abramovitz article, Industrial-Design Magazine, page 77, July 1957.; e i T "ml-h I"); 

